You're Just as Bad as Me
by music-kid3
Summary: "Well, if I like Blair, you've been completely head over heels 'please, oh please, take me now' for Nathaniel since sixth grade!" he smirked as he saw the blonde's smile dissolve on her face, only to be replaced with widened eyes. Rated T to be safe.


You're Just as Bad as Me

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gossip Girl, it's characters, or anything relating to it. All I own are the situations I choose to put the characters in and the laptop I wrote them on.**

_Sometimes, we argue over the most foolish of things…_

"You should go in first, S" Blair said, her mind already made up.

"You can't just _decide _that I have to do it Blair!" the blonde yelled with her arms flailing in front of her and hair dripping down furiously.

"I'm Blair Waldorf. I can decide_ whatever _I want" she responded with her arms crossed.

Nate was becoming anxious, unsure of what would come of another argument between the two. It was the summer before their eighth grade year, and they had been in the Hamptons for three weeks now, and the two girls had had a new fight every three days. Looking for some help from his best friend to diffuse the situation, Nate turned his head but was only met with the amused smirk of Chuck Bass who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself.

"I think Serena may be right this time, Blair." The blue-eyed blonde flashed a dazzling smile in his direction, but the vicious scowl that marred the beautiful brunette's face quickly had Nate rethinking whose side he had taken, and muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'or not'.

Chuck couldn't believe what was happening. He knew Nate was more of a pretty boy than a brain, but seriously? They were moments away from what he hoped would be a classic catfight that would end in shirts being torn off and beautiful girls kissing (literally) and making up. He had to step in before Nate ruined all of this with his peace-keeping attitude.

"Au contraire, Nathaniel, I think Blair may have a point about this one" he smirked, unabashedly looking the brunette girl up and down in her deep red bathing suit. Though it covered more than Serena's blue string bikini did, he couldn't help his fascination with the delicate girl.

Serena huffed, "You're opinion doesn't _count, _Chuck"

Brought out of his reverie, he responded indignantly, "And why doesn't it, van der Woodsen?"

"Because you always take Blair's side! And you totally have a crush on her. Guys with crushes say anything to make the girl they like happy, and so your opinion does _not, _in any way, shape or form, matter" she stated proudly, crossing her arms with a sly smile.

Chuck's jaw nearly dropped from the blonde girl's words and it was all he could do not to turn beet red as two more sets of eyes turned to him with confusion and shock radiating from their stares. He couldn't believe his luck. All this time they had all been underestimating the blonde, _because, _Chuck thought, _let's face it, she's never been the brightest tool in the shed, _but of course, she would pick up on the one thing that he had tried his hardest to conceal. He shook his head to clear it of those thoughts, knowing he was only adding fuel to the fire by not disputing her claims immediately.

_And sometimes it's to protect ourselves..._

"Well, if I like Blair, you've been completely head over heels 'please, oh _please_, take me now' for Nathaniel since sixth grade!" he smirked as he saw the blonde's smile dissolve on her face, only to be replaced with widened eyes, as if she was a deer caught in headlights.

At this point, Nate and Blair were looking on with complete fascination. Blair couldn't believe that Chuck had actually been embarrassed by Serena's words. Normally he'd swipe a comment like that under the rug with sexual innuendo or a rude statement. Blair could read people. Chuck would only be embarrassed if Serena had actually exposed something truthful and if Serena was telling the truth then that meant Chuck liked her and if Chuck liked her then, well, he was Chuck, and that would be, gross?

She thought to herself, _I mean, he is pretty smart. We could take everyone in our class down together if we joined forces. _She shook her head, _God no! He's Chuck Bass, and he slept with stupid __**Whoregina **__this year…who knows how many diseases he has. But, his eyes are really sexy, all intense and passionate. And his voice, how it's so much deeper and smoother than all the other boys in our year. But I like Nate, don't I? We would be perfect, my very own Prince Charming. _She inwardly rolled her eyes at herself, _Oh who am I kidding? Nate is in love with Serena and even though she's a total flirt, she likes him too. In fact, didn't Chuck just say something about that? Yeah. Okay, Chuck Bass, I could mold him, and his family is just as essential to the Upper East Side as Nate's. Blair Waldorf Bass…Blair Cornelia Bass, Blair Cornelia Waldorf-Bass? I can work out the details later, but this is – oh my God, why is Nate staring into space like that?_ She discreetly scanned him from his face top to bottom_ …are his swim trunks getting __**tigher? **__Ew, I think he's hard!_

Nate couldn't get over Chuck's last words, "take me now". Just the simple thought, imagining it in his mind was enough to make him need to loosen his pants or take a cold shower. He had been in love with Serena for as long as he could remember. Even when they first met, he had been enamored with her flowing blonde hair and how her eyes matched his perfectly. He had never before met someone free and happy and giggly as she was, but he loved it, even if back then, Chuck told him girls were weird. He noticed Blair look his way and then quickly jerk her head back, and it was only then that he realized the tugging at his swim shorts hadn't had the desired effect. _God, this is embarrassing. _The only thing he could think to do was end it somehow, and running through the yard and into his summer home didn't seem the best option. Before he could think better of it, he took off sprinting (with great difficulty) and jumped into his cold swimming pool. As the cool water rushed over his body, he sighed in contentment, _perfect, _and then began to kick so he could rise to the surface_._

When he came up for air, he noticed a smirk on Blair's face, but when he raised an eyebrow, she awkwardly looked anywhere but at him. The bewildered looks on Chuck and Serena's faces, though, was truly the funny thing.

"What are you _doing,_ Nathaniel? " Chuck asked with clear confusion.

_Sometimes a distraction is all it takes…_

Wiping some of the water from his lips, Nate responded, "Uhm, you know. Just solving the girl's problem"

Although Blair's look was knowing, the others were unsure what Nate was talking about.

"You know, they were arguing about who would go in first, so since I jumped in, now we can get on with our day" he said, slightly proud of himself for thinking up an excuse on the spot.

Blair and Serena looked between each other and when realization dawned on both of them, they began to laugh.

Serena giggled, "Natie, we weren't arguing over who had to go in the pool first. We were arguing about who have to tell my mom about our…adventure yesterday, and why we aren't allowed to go to the Swartz's party tonight".

Nate wondered how he had missed that one, then again, he had been slightly preoccupied with Serena's bikini to be completely invested in the words the two girls were saying. Thinking about how Lily van der Woodsen felt about being presented perfectly always – maybe even more than his own mother – and her reaction to the news had him slightly scared. "Oh, well, I won't be going in _there _first".

The girls continued to laugh and Chuck decided to add to his own amusement. Coming up behind the two of them, who were now standing by the edge of the pool, he jumped into the water and pulled both of them with him. As they rose, spluttering, he gave his best pair of doe eyes to the girls.

"What, I just figured I'd help Nathaniel out with this plan since he went through the effort to get it started and all".

The other three just looked at him in disbelief of how completely serious he sounded, then, looking between each other, each girl grabbed one of his arms while Nate dunked his head.

_And sometimes, with a little laughter, we forget what the problem was to begin with..._

**AN: Hey guys. I needed a little break from all of the angst I've been writing, so a little piece of NJBC fluff was exactly what the muse ordered. Plus, I love thinking about how the group was when they were young and everyone was still just friends. Like? Love? Loathe? Let me know what you thought in a review please . **

**Aryn**


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